Dr Joanna Silver featured in Glamour Magazine on the negative consequences of crash diets

Dr Joanna Silver, lead therapist for eating disorders at Nightingale Hospital has been featured in Glamour Magazine; discussing how putting pressure on ourselves to lose ‘lockdown weight’ can have major implications on physical and mental health.

“Many people have gained some weight in lockdown and it is important to normalise this instead of shaming it,” said Dr Silver in the article ‘How that June 21 crash diet will *really* impact your health – from moodiness to higher risk of infection’.

Dr Silver explained that pressure to engage in crash dieting in order to lose ‘lockdown weight’, can cause varying physical and psychological harm.

“People often find it difficult to concentrate and focus and it can lead to increased obsessions around food,” says Dr Silver, who notes that it can also impact your relationships. “When someone is suffering from a low mood, they are less likely to feel connected to others and more likely to become withdrawn and isolated.”

Dr Silver mentioned that losing weight for a particular date or occasion might extend into further pressure to maintain a strict diet or image.

“Even after that date, you may feel a pressure to maintain this ‘new body’ which can further fuel food restriction, preoccupation and obsession,” says Dr Silver. “And if you do begin to eat normally again, you may feel like you have ‘failed’, which can have a negative impact on your self-esteem.”


You can read the full article on the Glamour UK website, written by Amy Abrahams.

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“When you have a problem and you drink, take drugs or gamble, the problem won’t go away. Stay and tackle the problem”
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